TYOM W13 27 December 2021

Implementation of the 10 days of #bliss commenced Christmas Day. Every day spending time focussed on what is ideal? reality? achievable? What brings meaning? What drains and what should be removed or diluted because it doesn't add to the quality of a life well lived? That's hard because there seems to be a selfish response (quite easy) and then there's a more considered approach, perhaps not easy and binary but a "better view" in the circumstances?

Each day is a new activity, something previously untried. Each day holds studio time, journal and sketching work. Some time with the indoor plants. Some space to be quiet and meditative in my work. Being quiet. Calm. Considered. Take life's pulse every now and then and adjust speed to suit.

These log cabin inspired blocks are the first in the "I Swear!" series of works. Might end up a series of 1. Backing fabric has tannin stains - from tea and ironbark - and provide a tainted base on which to build a home. The hand dyed purple and blue colours are plain, unadorned, calm and big sky invitations to dream, explore and be the best version of oneself. The printed fabrics are commercial special order "swear" fabrics. They represent the "other half" of reality for many - unrealistic existence in the midst of abuse in the many forms it takes. Verbal profanities seemingly the least concerning on the spectrum of partner violence. The centre square, the heart and hearth is traditionally red for warmth and comfort. It also represents blood spilled and unspeakable loss. It is a confronting exercise to undertake - and I'm not sure what the end result will be.

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The peaceful rhythm of quilting

Three or four hundred upper thread and bobbin changes over the past four weeks. There's a textural effect I'm trying to create with the quilting - that compliments the imperfect shapes of the pieced fabrics. Something akin to wabi, sabi and shibui. The infinite ways that dense, linear quilting can be used to create story are coming to life, one piece at a time. Sometimes barely visible, sometimes contrasting. There is an uneven fullness in the seams that help create miniscule bumps at the end of each line. There are also the seamless directional changes absorbed into the looser weave of some fabrics. Every change and every bobbin. Testing tensions, adjusting for the different threads as each shape submits to the process. It is a peace-filled activity, permanently set up so I can work for several minutes at a time. Never wasting moments. I get immersed in the meditative quality of the quilting and thinking only about the stitch. Some of the combinations I use: using the same ...

Carvings and the meaning of life

Carving a new print is relaxing but requires full mental presence and even more patience. A rushed cut or slip results in nothing printable at all. The grevillea leaf is one of my favourites. Spiked points and gentle curves mean it can carry many meanings in an art work. It can speak to nature, trees, the outdoors, Australian native plants at a very obvious level. It can also carry deeper meanings about our lived experiences. This one is carved in soft plastic - which generally works better than lino on fabrics. It has a little more give and manages to get the full print onto the substrate whereas sometimes the linocut version leaves an imperfect mark. Getting to the final carving is an evolving process. Then there are test prints on paper, choosing paint, ink or decolourant (dye stripper) and how that works (or doesn't work) with a particular project. Sometimes I will use discharge paste and strip out the dye before offset and overprinting with ink. This gives t...

TYOM W1 5 October 2021

Midnight came and went. Seven more hours of suffering before we go to hospital and that was probably the best birthday decision of all. Turning 60 in the ER. Another 4 days before I am home and the positive takeaway is there WAS a stone blocking the duct to the liver, and it WAS the cause of me turning yellow. It WAS NOT copious, continuous comsumption of champagne. They had landed that one on me 8 weeks previously, and I obediently and conscientiously avoided said champagne for almost 7 weeks until the weekend immediately prior to TYOM. So there WAS a bottle of Dom Perignon 2010 consumed between four of us - deliciously sipped down to the last drop. It WAS true the pain started sometime in the next 24 hours and truer that I thought this was the end my relationship with champagne. How blessed to be wrong. They had managed to rule out all forms of known hepatitis, some novel considerations including HIV, drug use in my younger years, clots in one or more vital organs, a...

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